Numerous airline food kitchens cited for unsanitary, unsafe conditions

Many meals served by major airlines are prepared in unsanitary and unsafe conditions, reports Gary Stoller of USA TODAY Monday.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors have cited numerous catering facilities of three major companies for suspected health and sanitation violations following inspections of their kitchens, the report says, citing government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

The companies cited were LSG Sky Chefs, Gate Gourmet and Flying Food Group. They serve nearly all big airlines, including Delta, American, United, US Airways and Continental.

The FDA reports say many facilities store food at improper temperatures, use unclean equipment and employ workers who practice poor hygiene. At some, there were cockroaches, flies, mice and other signs of inadequate pest control.

All three caterers say they work hard to ensure food is safe. Airlines say they monitor their food.

LSG Sky Chefs says it has "comprehensive and multilayered quality-control standards in place to ensure our customers receive safe, healthy and high-quality food."

Flying Food Group and Gate Gourmet both say they use independent auditors for quality assurance.

Unsafe conditions prompt 4.9 million pound meat recall

(Reuters) - Unsafe conditions have prompted a California meat company to recall another 4.9 million lbs of beef and veal, expanding its previous recall to nearly 5.8 million lbs, the Agriculture Department said on Saturday.

No illnesses have been linked to the meat, produced as early as January 2009, but USDA said the expanded recall was in connection with a criminal investigation.

Huntington Meat Packing Inc. of Montebello, California, initially recalled 864,000 lbs of beef on January 18 due to suspected E.coli contamination. The recall was expanded because the beef and veal were not produced in accordance with the company's food safety plan, USDA said.

"The products are adulterated because the company made the products under unsanitary conditions failing to take the steps it had determined were necessary to produce safe products," the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said in a statement.

Each box bears the establishment number "EST. 17967" inside the USDA mark of inspection on a label and were produced between January 22, 2009, and January 4, 2010. They were shipped to distribution centers, restaurants, and hotels within the state of California.

The recall was expanded based on evidence collected in an ongoing criminal investigation by the Office of the Inspector General with assistance from FSIS, USDA said.

The investigation uncovered evidence to show that the food safety records of the company cannot be relied upon to document compliance with the requirements, USDA said.

FDA Issues New Report Finding Iowa Egg Facilities, Unsafe, Unsanitary, Full of Rats and 8 Foot Mounds of

ManureLast night the Food and Drug Administration released the gruesome details of its investigation into the Iowa-based Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms egg laying facilities responsible for the recall of more than 550,000,000 eggs and 1,500 illnesses in 23 states. Already the largest egg recall in the nation's history, the findings of this report are sure to become legendary in the offenses of industrial animal confinements here in the U.S.

The FDA report confirmed, FDA commission Margaret Hamburg have told national media outlets that Jack DeCoster owned Wright County Egg and DeCoster-affiliated Hillandale Farms were operating in unsafe manner.

According to USA Today's article, titled, "Filth, rats found at Iowa egg producers at center of recall" the DeCoster's Wright County Egg facility was described by FDA investigators as filthy, rat and fly-infested and so overflowing with manure that in several cases doors could not be closed. While Hillandale Farms: had multiple unsealed rodent holes into its henhouses, liquid leak from a manure pit and 50 escaped hens tracking manure into the henhouse.

The Iowa Independent included a shocking list of violations found in the new FDA report, which is listed below. At sites identified as being owned by Quality Egg LLC, which is run by DeCoster, the FDA found:* Wild birds and their feathers in the laying houses.* Chicken manure piled up to 8-feet high * Outside manure pit doors being pushed open by the weight of the manure* Unbaited and unsealed holes that appeared to be rodent burrows* Dark liquid that appeared to be manure seeping through a concrete foundation* Uncaged chickens climbing on the piles of manures to have contact with caged chickens* Live mice within the laying houses* Live and dead flies “too numerous to count”* Live and dead maggots “too numerous to count”At Hillandale Farms sites the FDA inspectors found:* Unsealed rodent holes* Liquid manure leaking onto a separate floor of a laying house, and “streaming” out of a six-inch gap of a manure pit doorway* Uncaged hens tracking manure to caged hens* Numerous incomplete internal monitoring forms

Even as alarming as these violations sound, one wonders what the conditions are at the rest of the less than 200 egg laying companies that supply Americans more than 95% of the eggs we consume daily. According to USA Today, "The conditions at the two farms led the Food and Drug Administration to announce today that it plans to immediately launch inspections of all egg-laying operations in with more than 50,000 laying hens, which account for more than 80% of eggs produced in the USA, says Mike Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner for food."

Dairy inspector: Raw milk seller's dairy operation unsanitary

- A Minnesota dairy farmer whose products are linked to an E. coli outbreak wants to be able to sell his products again, and he has taken his case to court.

The state alleges E. coli in unpasteurized milk sold by Michael Hartmann sickened eight people. The Minnesota Agriculture Department banned the Gibbon farmer from selling any products.

Hartmann appeared in court Thursday to ask a Sibley County judge to lift the embargo.In court documents, Hartmann said he has cheese, meat, ice cream and other products in storage that he'd like to be able to market. He estimates those products are worth as much as $10,000.

The state maintains the food was produced in unsanitary conditions and says Hartmann should not be allowed to sell the products. Greg Pittman, a dairy inspector with the Department of Agriculture, testified Thursday that the farm did not meet state standards for cleanliness.

Pittman emphasized that all building surfaces need to be "smooth and easily cleanable" and without rust. State officials submitted photos they say demonstrates that Hartmann's farm did not meet those standards, including photos of rusty sinks and walls with peeling paint covered in cobwebs.

The state also submitted a photo of a dead owl on top of a container in the milking barn.Pittman testified that the window was not a smooth and cleanable surface.

"Milk invariably will be contaminated with a certain amount of bacteria," Baer said.As part of its investigation linking Hartmann to the E. coli illnesses, state officials searched the Hartmann farm in May and June. They focused on the Hartmann farm near Gibbon because it was the only common factor among the eight E. coli illnesses. Every person sickened either consumed -- or was around people who had consumed -- Hartmann products, including raw milk.

During the searches of the Hartmann farm, state officials allege they found unsanitary conditions, including widespread manure contamination. Those findings led the state to conclude that any food produced on the farm could be unsafe, so they imposed the embargo.Hartmann contends his food is safe. He says manure is part of a dairy operation and implies the amounts the state found are not out of line with what one would expect to find on a dairy farm.

‘Double dead’ meat winds up in parts of Central Luzon

ANGELES CITY, Philippines—Indications that "botcha" is being sold in Central Luzon markets have become apparent as authorities in separate raids seized 800 kilograms of “double dead” meat in Pandi, Bulacan last Thursday and 333 kg of pork here on Tuesday.

In the latest seizure, Angeles City meat inspectors and policemen found the meat in the possession of Neida Bonifacio, a vendor in the Pampanga public market at past 2 a.m., Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan said.

The stocks were allegedly delivered by a van owned by GN Rica Meat Products also in this city, said Superintendent Danilo Bautista, city police director. Bonifacio is in the custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Pampanga, he said. Personnel from the city veterinarian's office buried the stocks in a site they did not disclose to avoid pilferage.

“Double dead” meat refers to meat from a sick animal. "Hot meat," on the other hand, refers to meat products which did not undergo inspection by authorities and were not slaughtered or processed in authorized slaughterhouses. When consumed, such meats can lead to food poisoning.

In the Pandi raid, policemen and the town’s sanitary inspector arrested Bienvenido Basona, Romeo Casido, Lloyd Gregorio and Romeo Sumayang. They had no business permit for selling pig heads and roasted pigs suspected to be double dead meat, a report from the Central Luzon police said.Dr. Romeo Manalili, chief of the quarantine office of the Department of Agriculture in Central Luzon, has ruled out hog diseases as reasons why double dead meat end up in local markets. But big hog farms are potential sources, he said. “It’s natural that big farms lose three percent of their hogs. Some die while giving birth, are pinned during birth or die of heat stroke,” Manalili said.

Piggery farms are the likely sources of double dead meat, said Dr. Roberto Umali, head of the plant operation and inspection division of the National Meat Inspection Service.He said unscrupulous vendors sell double dead meat as lechon (roasted pig) or deliver these for retail in public markets at lower prices.

Umali said double dead meat is pale, has a foul smell and easily disintegrates. He said the rush to slaughter leaves the skin with patches of hair. To delay the decomposition, the meat is soaked in ice, which is why the meat is cold when it reaches the market.

The NMIS, Umali said, has asked Congress to amend the agency’s law so it can impose stiff penalties as a way to prevent the sale of “double dead” meat. The maximum penalty imposed on violators is P10, 000 or two months imprisonment.

Fish in 16 state lakes show unsafe mercury levels

OKLAHOMA CITY — Catch a large striped bass in the Broken Bow Reservoir and you might as well throw it back. The bass isn't safe to eat, according to Mercury in Fish study released Wednesday.

Sixteen state lakes have some species of fish with mercury levels above what is considered safe for unlimited consumption, according to the report released by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.

Two of the 16 lakes had "do not eat" advisories for certain species.

The advisory on striped at Broken Bow includes consumption by both sensitive and general populations. Sensitive populations include women of child-bearing age and children 15 and younger.

The study also advises sensitive populations not to eat walleye or white bass caught at Broken Bow. Sensitive populations also should not eat white bass caught from McGee Creek Reservoir in Atoka County.

Whitefish is an excellent source of protein, Wright said, but people should know how much fish is safe to eat from particular lakes.

Mercury is a neurotoxin and is especially dangerous to developing fetuses and children. It can interfere with thinking, memory, attention span, fine motor and visual spatial skills.

Ninety-nine percent of human exposure to mercury comes from eating fish.

The safest bet is to eat smaller, low-mercury fish, Wright said.

The lakes with low mercury levels in fish include: Arbuckle, Eucha, Guthrie, Fuqua, Oologah, Sooner, Texoma, Wes Watkins, Arcadia, Fort Gibson, Hulah, Hudson, Ponca, Spavinaw, Thunderbird, Zoo Lake (Oklahoma City), Copan, Grand, Lawtonka, Murray, Robert S. Kerr, Tenkiller and Tom Steed.

Wright said samples will be taken at 84 other lakes. Officials will look at other fish species, as well, including large catfish.